Finally, some judicial backbone

We need more judges like John C. Coughenour, who presided over the trial of Ahmed Ressam, the would-be Millennium bomber.Unfortunately in right-wing crazed times like these, he'll probably get branded an "Activist Judge" for this.

"We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant or deny the defendant the right to counsel," U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said. "The message to the world from today's sentencing is that our courts have not abandoned our commitment to the ideals that set our nation apart."

That's right, no secret tribunals, no torture in American gulags in Cuba, and no barring of the defendant's right to an attorney were necessary to convict a would-be terrorist through our judicial system! Gee, George! Maybe due process of law actually works.

"The tragedy of September 11th shook our sense of security and made us realize that we, too, are vulnerable to acts of terrorism," Coughenour said. "Unfortunately, some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete ... If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won."

Amen to that.

(Also on www.cnn.com, although they didn't bother to publish the second quote)